BEST BUY EXEC IN SHOCK EXIT November 11, 2009 BEST BUY’S head of international markets Robert Willett has quit the US electricals retailer, raising a question mark over its long-awaited move into the UK market. Willett, 63, who has overseen Best Buy’s expansion in Europe, China and Mexico, will leave the company by the end of the year and will not be replaced, the [...]
CITY VIEWS: ARE YOU GOING TO BE A BIG SPENDER THIS CHRISTMAS November 11, 2009 ANDREW DICKSON BARCLAYS GLOBAL INVESTORS“I tend not to spend much at Christmas anyway, so I’ll spend about the same amount as usual on presents. But I think retail sales could fare well this year, particularly because cheap prices will open up more opportunities for shoppers.” MATT GROVER TINDALL RILEY“I’m going to spend about the same [...]
Pearl moves towards its UK flotation November 11, 2009 PEARL, the recently refinanced insurance group, yesterday said it was headed for a stock market flotation in 2010 as it reported cash generation ahead of targets. Pearl was so financially stretched earlier this year following its acquisition of Resolution life funds that the Financial Services Authority encouraged it to seek new equity funding. Yesterday, the [...]
ACQUISITION BOOSTS BALFOUR November 11, 2009 Balfour Beatty, which is building the 2,800-tonne roof for the Olympic aquatic centre, (pictured), yesterday said it is confident in its outlook for 2009. The UK’s biggest infrastructure builder said its order book is flat from its half-year results at £12.5bn, but that it lifts to £13.7bn when you include the order book of a [...]
Investors anticipate hike in HBSC’s dividend after bank guides brokers November 11, 2009 HSBC has been informally guiding brokers to expect a significant increase in its dividend next year. The bank has said it will pay out up to 50 per cent of post-tax profits in dividends, City A.M. has learnt. Based on the higher end of consensus earnings figures that would result in a payout to shareholders [...]
Director out as Aero’s bank calls in KPMG November 11, 2009 AERO Inventory, a parts supplier for the airline industry that was contemplating a move from the junior market to a full listing less than two months ago, yesterday ended up in the hands of the administrators. Accounting group KPMG yesterday took control of the group on behalf of a group of banks led by Lloyds [...]
UniCredit sees risk costs drop November 11, 2009 ITALY’S biggest bank UniCredit reported the first quarterly decline in bad debt charges in more than a year yesterday, despite a big writedown in Kazakhstan Net profit for the quarter to September dropped 20 per cent compared to the previous twelve weeks to €394m (£356m), UniCredit said, as revenue declined from an exceptional second quarter. [...]
FSA tightens credit union rules November 11, 2009 The Financial Services Authority is planning to tighten rules for credit unions, increasing capital and liquidity requirements to offer better protection for customers and avoid failures and defaults. The new rules will complement the government’s own planned reforms, which are due to come into effect next spring. The plans will make it easier for unions [...]
King’s X commuters face strikes November 11, 2009 Train drivers at First Capital Connect (FCC) are being balloted on strike action in a fall-out over pay. Aslef, the drivers’ union, said the ballot will close on 9 December, as drivers decide whether to take action on a two-year pay offer. The walkout would hit commuters on the East Anglia to King’s Cross line. [...]
Bank appoints court director November 11, 2009 The Treasury yesterday appointed John Morrison Stewart as a new director of the court of the Bank of England and as a member of the Financial Stability Committee for three years from December. The Court manages BoE affairs other than monetary policy, while the FSC is being formed to support the BoE’s new statutory objective [...]